Friday, April 30, 2010

Tomorrow is the first wedding anniversary of some of my favourite people. I wrote about them and their special day here. We've had a hell of a year together, the Monkeys and us. We got married within weeks of each other, got pregnant within weeks of each other and popped out a couple of lighties within weeks of each other. It wasn't intended, but I'm glad it happened that way, these things are so much more fun when you've got someone to do it with. So happy happy youse and thanks for a wonderful year.

Anyhow, I was looking for a photo from their wedding to put up just for fun, turns out we don't have any. Guess that's what happens when you're part of the wedding party...? So instead I thought I would go with a pic on this day (or close as dammit) from the last four years. Funny to see how our lives have changed.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Being a mom is time-consuming. And hard sometimes. And easy sometimes. And how can parts of it like breastfeeding feel so natural that I don't even have to think about it when I'm still trying to figure out stupid things like whether my boy needs to be in different nappies? (Is it weight / fit / absorbency or a combination of all three and when they leak out the side is that the size or the brand or both or am I not putting them on right or did Ezra just point his little hosepipe in the wrong direction??) ((And how did my life get so upside down that all I fixate on is nappies??)) Urgh, I'm sure I'll figure it out - trial and error makes for entertaining stories if not resolution of the problem.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

I hate vaccinating my kid. He doesn't appear to mind that much - just lets out a squawk and has a little blub and then forgets about it - whilst I, on the other hand, have found myself starting to dread it and lay the blame for that squarely on my mother. (I stupidly took my mom along for emotional support the first time he had vaccinations - she was in tears before we got there and I had to buy her an icecream afterwards to cheer her up) You see, she's the one who pointed out that these little people don't really have any experience of pain to moderate this pain against, and there is no way you can explain to them what's about to happen so that they're ready for it. So one minute they're sitting there smiling and charming the midwife, the next they're very sore. Ag shame man. But it has to be done.

In other news, we have discovered a shrew living in our house. The funny little thing is most frequently spotted running between our kitchen and our lounge where it skedaddles along the skirting board and behind one of the couches. It doesn't seem much perturbed by our presence, stops and squeaks at us from time to time. I don't know if I'm supposed to be panicking about getting rid of it, but it doesn't appear to be causing any damage. I think I'll let it stay.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

I guess I've been lucky as far as grandparents go. I've known the ones I have my whole life, my mom's parents are both alive and well and my dad's dad died long before I was even a twinkle in my dad's eye, so I don't feel any sense of loss for not knowing him. My dad's mom has been rocking this planet for the last 80,5 years, I've known her almost twice as long as I knew my dad (he died when I was 15). She's kickass, the kind of grumpy ol' duck I want to be, snow white hair, a green thumb of note and a stern countenance which some are afraid of. You just have to get a little closer to see how much of her disapproval is voiced with a mischievious twinkle in her eye.

So it hurts to find out she's been diagnosed with cancer, of the lungs, the bones, the liver, the stomach and who knows where else. They're going to treat her with chemotherapy, but this will only prolong the inevitable. And if the treatment makes her sick she's going to laugh it off. In her words, she's going for quality of life now, not quantity. Is that brave or sensible or stupid? I don't know, and I'm flipping sad that she has to even think that way.

Monday, April 26, 2010

The funny thing about being a mom is you get to see your own mom in a whole new light. I didn't realise until my mom spent a night with us that we use exactly the same tone when talking to babies. My baby specifically. We also make the same funny little clicking noises to get their attention, we both blow raspberries at them, we both laugh in the same pitch. Now the question is this: Do I do this because I remember it from my time as an infant or have I just absorbed it without noticing over years of watching my mom interact with little people? I don't need an answer, I just wonder.

I decided to take the 2010 blog dare (to post something every single day), though what with having a baby and all that, I was a bit late in getting started (which shouldn't surprise anyone who knows me well). And I do intend to put in a whole year's worth of entries anyway, so whether I start in January or April shouldn't really matter. I just suddenly don't know what to blog about. But that's the fun part, because when I sit down at my laptop and click the 'New Post' button, I'm never really sure what's going to come out. And, as is the case with the handwritten diaries I keep, I'm often amazed by the direction the brain travels in without conscious guidance. I can't wait to look back on this year :)

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Shane walked into the lounge last night with a very serious look on his face. My immediate thought was 'Shit'. I figured he'd discovered the Easter eggs. Or rather, the lack thereof. (In my defence, I did warn him that this would happen so he should have hidden them better)

'Sweetie, I've decided that from now on I'd like you to call me Buffel.'

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Friday, April 23, 2010

I read today that statistically girls born in South Africa are more likely to be raped than to learn to read.

Now I'm not big on stats, but that one really hit home. More so than it would have a few years ago, before motherhood whacked me in the face, before my friends and I brought a whole new generation of statistically disadvantaged little people to life. I dabbled a bit in development studies a few years ago and ultimately packed it in because of the reality of those sorts of statistics.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

I have been puked on at least four million times today. Sigh. Is it rational to be switching to scented baby wipes to mop it off my clothes and disguise the smell so I don't have to keep changing them? Because right now if I add another thing to my washing basket it will tip over and there will be avalanche warnings all across the Berg...

The last time I blogged (before the epic birth story, that is) I was in two minds about going back to work after Ezra's birth. In the lost months of no-blogging I had decided I would go back, if only to teach my boy that parents have their own lives outside of being parents. God, how cruel.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Right, fast forward six months and here I am, someone's mom. And that someone is a gorgeous little boy we've called Ezra.

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Before you read on, please be aware that this is a blow-by-blow account of my labour and childbirth. I don't think it's particularly graphic, but think you should be warned anyway. Also, it's hard to fit into less words so a rather long post indeed!
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